Old Growth
by foxontherun
Summary: Castle and Beckett get lost in the woods after a car crash. Can they survive alone in the wilderness? Is someone out there, hunting them?
1. The Loneliest Road

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. Or Nathan Fillion. But give me time.

/

_Castle was almost there. He slid his hand a bit further—two inches away. If he could only reach a little more. Two inches. One inch. Almost…there…_

WHAP

"I swear to God Castle, if you change the channel one more time you're going to be walking back to Manhattan." Beckett's voice sounded half disgruntled, half amused as she slid him a sideways glance. Castle leaned back in his seat with a pout.

"We've been listening to public radio for almost an hour now," he complained. "I think I've learned all that can be learned about the Greek debt crisis." He slumped in his seat a little. "We should have taken the Ferrari," he groused. "We'd have been there by now."

Beckett shook her head and allowed a little frustrated sigh to puff at her bangs. All things considered, Castle was a fairly good travelling companion. He was an effortless conversationalist, and could keep up his end of a discussion on almost any topic, including Russian literature, which they had argued about for a solid hour before declaring it a draw. He was the first person she had ever met who had actually read The Master and Margarita—and that included all of the people in the Russian Lit program at NYU. Not too bad at all for a choice of company on this frustratingly long road trip. But after the first two and a half hours he had become increasingly restless, fidgeting with all the dials in the car, asking every fifteen minutes or so if he could drive, if they could stop and get milkshakes, if they were almost there. She felt like her old elementary school teacher, Mrs. Winters, whose snappish impatience she had never felt any sympathy for…until now.

"Fine. Castle. You can change the channel exactly one more time before we get there," she relented, and had to restrain a grin at the eagerness with which he lunged forward. He switched through a couple channels of static before his eager look turned into a slight frown.

"You really should get satellite radio," he muttered. "I mean seriously, the state of New York City's finest cop cars is disgraceful." He finally settled on a slightly muffled rock station and settled back to stare at the passing forest. "This is the loneliest road I've ever been on," he mused, as he watched the expanse of dark trees, "and that counts Death Valley."

When Gates had approved the trip upstate to track down a possible suspect in their latest case—a string of kidnappings that had escalated to the murder of a six-year-old boy, she had only grudgingly allowed Castle to tag along, admonishing them both that they would be out of their jurisdiction, and to behave themselves. Castle had graced her with a beatific smile, promising to be an angel. Beckett and Gates had rolled their eyes simultaneously, but secretly Beckett had been glad for the company. Specifically, for Castle's company. The man had a way of being so…god she didn't even know how to explain it. Whenever her thoughts towards Castle became overly affectionate (which they had been doing distressingly often these days) she tried to shake them off before they headed in too worrisome a direction. She wasn't ready for feelings like those. Friendliness yes, affection, yes, but too often she would catch herself staring at Castle when he wasn't looking, with a hint of a goofy smile on her face, like a lovesick kid. No. No! She was Kate Beckett for God's sake. No-nonsense, pragmatic Kate Beckett. A realist to the end. Those puppy-dog eyes would _not_ get to her. The memories of kissing him, pressed up against his body would NOT wake her up in the middle of the night, distract her into daydreaming at work, and she certainly would NOT fantasize about seeing him naked. Not ever. From this moment foreward.

"Earth to Beckett." Castle's snapping fingers made her jump a little, and the car veered on the road.

"Jesus, Castle," Beckett panted, realizing that she had been driving for minutes without actually seeing the road in front of her.

"Um, Kate?" Castle was looking a little concerned. "Maybe I _should_ drive. Its getting late and you've been at the wheel for a—"

"I'm fine, Castle," Beckett warned. "Besides we're almost—"

The impact came like a thunderclap, without warning. The headlights of the car behind them were suddenly so close they were blinding, and they were both thrown forwards, rebounding off their seatbelts with a painful snap. Beckett's senses were thrown into overdrive as she felt adrenaline surge through her, and she struggled to twist the steering wheel to get them back on the road. And then another massive collision from behind, throwing the car into a spinout. Beckett's chest collided painfully with the wheel as the car jolted and she lost control of the car completely. She could hear Castle beside her shouting, but as the car careened off the road all she could see, all she could focus on was the trunk of the tree that lay directly in their path.

She heard Castle call out her name, and then there was nothing.

/

A/N: Omg my first Castle fanfic! I'm so in love with this show and the chemistry between the whole ensemble, but its taken a little while for me to get up the nerve to start a fic about them because a) I want to do the show justice, b) I've read some absolutely incredible fics on here and the sheer quality of some of the writing is intimidating, and c) most of my fanfics end up being looong and I'm in the middle of writing my own novel (original characters and all). But I need a break and this show is just too good not to steal the characters for a little while. So cheers everybody! I hope you like it!


	2. The Hunter

"He's a hunter," Beckett mused as she leaned forwards slightly, trying to take in all of the information on the packed murder board in front of her.

"A hunter?" Castle asked as he leaned forwards to peer over her shoulder, crowding her space slightly, totally absorbed in the tale she was telling.

"All of our facts say that he stalks his victims," she replied, turning slightly to catch his profile. "He follows them for weeks," she supplied, "learns everything he can about them—their habits, their schedules, even their likes and dislikes, and when he finally catches them at the right moment, when they're most vulnerable—"

"He pounces," Castle picked up where she was going seamlessly. "There is no sexual element to these crimes," he continued, narrowing his eyes. "He's not an abuse victim, acting out his revenge against these boys. Imagine a man," he leaned back against the desk, gesturing with one hand. "a boy. Neglected by his parents. Maybe his presence overshadowed by a preferred sibling or maybe just abandoned by parents who's interests lay elsewhere. Brian Fischer, our suspect, grows up feeling completely alone. Feeling judged unworthy. These feelings feed into his psychosis, until he begins to act on his intense self-loathing and hatred by kidnapping boys who remind him of himself at that age. He hunts them like prey, dehumanizing them, turning them into symbols of his own dark fantasies. Then he takes them, locks them up, turns his attentions totally towards them—keeping them entirely from the world until he can take that final step and free them from the cruelty of their total isolation."

"By killing them." Beckett finished, completely caught up in Castles telling of the story. His ability to mold cold facts into a compelling narrative is entrancing to her. She watched how faraway his eyes seemed to go as he travelled inwards on the crest of his imagination. She can't look away. Doesn't look away.

"A hunter," Castle murmured, looking thoughtfully at the murder board in front of them. Then suddenly he bounced up and turned to her with the all-too familiar twinkle in his eyes that bespoke a revelation. His clue face. "We know Fischer's parents lived in Vermont. Do we know if he had any connections in _this_ area? Ones that wouldn't be immediately relevant—deceased relatives, for example?"

Beckett turned towards the computer to begin typing, and then turned back, a matching smile growing on her face. "He had an uncle who lived upstate. Greene County. He died last year."

Castle grinned at her, feeling a rush of relief and adrenaline that they were finally, finally getting somewhere on what had been an achingly long, draining case. "And what exactly happened to his property when he died?" He asked, feeling relatively sure he knew the answer.

"It was left to Fischer's older brother," Beckett answered, a trill running up her spine.

"His missing older brother?"

"Missing presumed deceased," Beckett was up from her chair, grabbing her binder and already headed towards Gates' office.

"The older brother," Castle called after her, hurrying to catch up. "I bet he was an overachiever," he crowed.

/

He could hear someone calling his name. The voice sounded urgent. Hoarse. Familiar.

_God damn his head hurt like a bastard. What could he have possibly been—_

Kate.

It was Kate calling him. And then it all came flooding back. The lonely road. The high beams of the car behind them suddenly flooding his vision. The crash. Kate. Was she?

He opened his eyes, stifling a groan at the stabbing pain in his temples, and tried to focus on the face swimming in front of him.

"Kate," he whispered, and then tried to muster up some strength, his voice sounded so breathy and weak. He tried again. "Kate, are you…?"

"I'm fine," Beckett's face was clearer now, looking down at him with an expression of mingled concern and relief. There was a nasty gash near her hairline and her face and hair were smudged with dirt. Castle tried to sit up, heaving himself up with his elbows, and was rewarded by a stabbing, urgent pain that shot up his calf. "Don't try to sit up yet," Beckett cautioned. "You've got a broken ankle, I think," she said, running a distracted hand through her hair. "And probably a concussion."

"What. The hell. Was that?" Castle asked, now propped up a little, resting against something, rubbing his leg gingerly. Then in the silence that followed his question he got a better look at what was around him. His brain struggled a bit, a thousand nonsensical thoughts running through him, and he looked at Beckett with wide eyes. "Are we in the middle of a forest?" He asked, knowing the answer, but still not understanding.

"That's what it seems like," Beckett answered flatly, looking searchingly around at the mossy ground, the wet leaves, the trees that stood in a black regiment encircling them. "I think this is probably the state forest that was next to the interstate," she explained, shaking her head a little. "Whoever ran us off the road-and I'm feeling pretty sure it was Fischer—got to us after the crash when we were both unconscious. He sapped us," she continued, unconsciously rubbing at her head, "and…dragged us here."

Castle reached up to touch the throbbing wound on his temple and was rewarded with a lance of pain that seemed to shoot through his entire body. He winced, and Beckett was leaning over him again, the concern breaking through on her face. "I'm ok," he managed a slightly watery smile, as she sat back, her hand still extended slightly towards him. "I'm ok," he said again and this time managed a more convincing smile. A smile that faltered slightly as he searched Beckett's face, not liking the expression he saw there. "By the way," he asked, casting his eyes around him, "where _is_ here?"

"I don't know," Beckett sighed and leaned forwards to lightly brush Castle's hair away from his forehead, looking away with a slight blush as his eyes met hers. "But our car is nowhere in sight. I think he dropped us as far away from civilization as he could get. There are ATV tracks that run right up to this clearing. He loaded us on and then drove us out here." Kate dropped her hand from Castle's head and slumped next to him with a muffled groan as her aching body adjusted. "Rick," she said, with a tremor of worry running through her voice, "I think we're lost."

/

_A/N: Holy story alerts Batman! Thanks to everyone for your interest in this story, I'm so jazzed to be writing for such an involved community. I hope this goes places you all enjoy, and please please review if you read. Tell me what you want to see, tell me if I'm doing something wrong, tell me if I screw up my verb tenses (I do that.) Just…I love and require feedback. Reviews are like a heating pad for my cold, cold heart._

_Oh, and I'll try to update at least a couple times a week!_


	3. The Clearing

Castle was totally flummoxed by their situation. He leant his head back slightly against the log and tried to do some quick mental logistics. Beckett, meanwhile, brushed her hands against her knees and maneuvered herself into a standing position, reaching out her hand to him.

"Come on, Castle, lets see if we can get you up." No response. Castle was thinking too hard and getting absolutely nowhere. Nowhere—just like where they were now.

"Where are we going, Kate?" He asked, looking up at her still patiently outstretched hand. "We have no idea where we are. What's the plan—we just start walking, excuse me, limping, until we stumble upon civilization?" He ran a hand impatiently through his hair and sighed. "I'm sorry, I just—being lost is sort of a fear of mine." He paused, and then reached up to grab her hand. "Make that a major neurosis."

With Beckett's help, propping himself up against the log behind him for support, Castle managed to haul himself upright, making appropriate groaning noises as he got there. Once standing, he gingerly placed his injured foot on the ground to gauge how much weight it could handle. The answer was not much, and he swore as he overcorrected against the throbbing in his leg by falling sideways into Beckett's shoulder, almost knocking her to the ground. "Uh, sorry," he managed to get out, tightening one of his fists so that his nails bit into his palm, trying to erase the pain that was obviously showing in his face. He didn't want to be a burden—he wanted out of those godforsaken woods, and he didn't want any excuses to linger.

Kate was looking at him, eyes narrowed, trying to read his expression, to see how much pain he was biting back. He just gave her a small wry smile. "How bad is it, Castle?" She asked, when it was obvious he wasn't going to show her all of his cards.

"My leg probably won't survive this," he gasped melodramatically. "They may have to amputate." Then he gave her his best cheeky grin. "Its just a pulled muscle, Beckett, I've gotten hurt worse on skiing trips."

"Uh huh," Beckett was obviously not entirely buying his act, but she just shook her head and bit her lip pensively, gazing around them at the treeline, the ground, any information that might give her a clue as to where to start walking. "Ok Castle," she turned to face him, "I took a wilderness survival course while I was at the academy. I'm not saying I'm Bear Grylls, but I think I can keep us alive long enough for Ryan and Esposito to notice we're gone and mount a rescue."

Castle's mouth was open a little. "Wait. Hold up. One—you watch Man vs. Wild? That seems _so_ not you. And two—you had to take a wilderness survival course to be a cop in _Manhattan_?" He paused. "Is that ironic? I think it's ironic, but it may not be ironic. Is it ironic?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "I thought you were the literary master and gatekeeper of irony, not me. Shouldn't you know?"

"I have a concussion!" Castle looked so wounded that Beckett had to smile. "Speaking of which," he went on, "are you hurt at all? How come I feel like I just fell down a well and you're all raring to go?"

Beckett shrugged and looked away. "I had a dislocated shoulder. I set it back before you woke up. It aches a little." She shrugged again for him. "But everything's working." Castle looked over at her, and the look on his face was so serious that Beckett raised her eyebrows at him.

"There's something sexy about how badass that is," he said finally, after giving her a once over with wide blue eyes. "Don't ask me what, because frankly I don't want to overanalyze it."

"You find everything sexy," Beckett said, hiding a grin, trying to ignore the little shiver of pleasure she felt.

"Mmm," Castle said, his eyes still on her, and then a stray thought shook him out of his little reverie. "Hey, speaking of sexy," he patted his jacked pockets and reached a hand into one. "Crazy car guy left us our cellphones!"

Beckett shook her head, "that's because they're useless. I checked. No reception. No GPS location. So unless you want to sit here and play Angry Birds until we hear a chopper, let's get moving." She helped him wrap his arm around her neck to support his weight as they limped forward together.

"So where are we headed again?" He asked as they started to head deeper into the trees.

"We're going to find a clearing where we can stay the night," Beckett answered, distracted only a little by the feeling of Rick Castle's arm around her neck, his fingers gripping her shoulder. "Something with good sight-lines and a secure place to put our backs up against." She shifted his arm a little to get more comfortable. "We're probably not going to find anything perfect, but the sun is setting and I don't want to be out here walking in the dark." She shot her eyes sideways, making sure he was ok with their pace.

"Lay on, MacDuff," Castle intoned. He gave her a twinkling smile. "I've always wanted a legitimate excuse to say that."

/

Half an hour later, they had staked out a decent spot, a clearing with several large boulders and an expanse of grassy space, to spend the night. Beckett had settled Castle up against one of the bigger boulders while she went to look for kindling.

"Don't worry, I'll stay within shouting distance," she interrupted him as he opened his mouth to ask.

"Shout often," he replied, and then sat and crossed his arms, feeling useless. Castle was _not_ an outdoors type of guy. He liked the _city_, for God's sake. When he wanted to get away from it all he would go to the Hamptons. Or Santorini. Or rent a villa in Chianti. He had always found camping more of a hardship than a pastime. Why would anyone willingly put up with the bugs, the lack of showers, the cold…it _was_ getting pretty cold, now that he thought of it. This gave him an idea that kept a slightly devilish smile on his face until Beckett returned, toting a small pile of dry wood and some leaves.

"Ugh," she said as she dropped her bundle on the ground. "I was never any good at this part." She didn't seem to notice his smirk.

"Now all we need is a zippo or a pack of matches," Castle said, helping her arrange the wood with the leaves on top. "Or a lightning strike," he added helpfully. "And I can't believe there's something _you're_ no good at."

Beckett gave him a tired scowl. "Right," she muttered, "well believe it." She set about arranging the twigs into a teepee. "You don't happen to have any flint with you?"

"I left my flint back home along with my longbow and falconer's glove."

"Well…how about a magnifying glass?" Beckett glanced at Castle. "That's the kind of thing I'd picture you carrying around when you're on a case with me," she said snidely.

"Yeah no, Sherlock, I don't have a magnifying glass on me," Castle sat in silence for a second, and then startled her by snapping both fingers. "But!" he smiled his most winning smile, "there IS an app for that."

/

_A/N: Thanks so much for your reviews, guys! Keep 'em coming! I know a lot of what's going to go on in this story, but some of the niggly bits of the middle part aren't as fleshed out in my head as they could be, so if you want to see something in particular happen, let me know. Btw I'm sort of borrowing some of the feel of this from an episode of the X-Files where Mulder and Scully get lost in the woods. (Thanks so much to the reviewer who said that this reminded her of old X-Files. Good catch!) So make of that what you will. I'm not overly fond of this chapter, but the next will contain both some Casketty goodness and some picking up of the drama/thriller factor._

_And OMG I am VIBRATING with excitement for the start of the two-parter next week. I don't know if I can even wait that long._

_Hope you liked this installment! Let me know!_


End file.
